The Conservative party alleges that Labour's tax hikes will result in an average extra bill of almost £3,000 for pubs in Blackburn with Darwen and across the country. They claim this 'pub tax' comes after the Labour Government reduced business rate relief for the hospitality and retail sector while increasing National Insurance Contributions for employers. Labour councillors have disputed these figures, calling them 'nonsense' and 'rank hypocrisy'.
A hundred local pubs across Blackburn with Darwen and thousands across the country are facing extra bills averaging almost £3,000 in April through Labour tax hikes, the Conservative party has claimed. It alleges this business rate increase, dubbed the “pub tax”, comes after the Labour Government slashed business rate relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure sector while increasing employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICS).
The Conservative Party research says that taken together it means 36,730 pubs across the country face an average extra bill of more than £5,500 a year. Their analysis claims that 100 pubs in Blackburn with Darwen will each be paying £2,871 in extra taxes. In Hyndburn the Tory figure for the increase is £2,672 affecting 70 pubs, in Burnley £2,701 for 80; in Pendle £4,429 affecting 50 pubs and in Ribble Valley £5,352 affecting 70. Senior East Lancashire Labour councillors have questioned the Conservative figures branding them ‘nonsense’ and ‘rank hypocrisy’. Shadow communities secretary Kevin Hollinrake said the rises came despite Labour pledging to scrap business rates before last year’s General Election. He alleged that from April, business rates on shops, restaurants, cafes, pubs, cinemas, music venues, gyms and hotels will rise nationally by £925million as government rate relief is being slashed at the same time as the Labour Government was increasing employer NICs by an average of £800 per worker. Mr Hollinrake said: “First the Labour government came for pensioners, then they came for the farmers, then they came for small businesses and now they’re coming for your local pub. Labour’s war on pubs will load tens of thousands of extra costs onto pubs, raise the price of a pint, put jobs in jeopardy and put our pubs at risk of closure. “This is why we’ve launched the ‘Save your Local’ campaign and petition. Pubs are at the heart of our towns and cities and we must protect them from Keir ‘no beer’ Starmer.” Blackburn with Darwen Council’s Labour leader Cllr Phil Riley said: “The Tories appear to have learned nothing from their disastrous General Election defeat – the majority of their claims are nonsense. My guess is that the drinking classes will see through this as political hogwash from a party that still can’t tell the difference between the truth and a lie.” Hyndburn council’s business boss Cllr Scott Brerton said: “This is rank hypocrisy from the Conservatives whose time in power saw ten pubs a week close their doors. Labour is backing Britain’s pubs and breweries through a range of measures including reducing the duty on draught beer and supporting smaller breweries with innovation and market access.” Rossendale’s 50 pubs are unaffected as they receives full small business rate relief due to the rateable value being below £12,000. Join our LancsLive WhatsApp group LancsLive now has its very own WhatsApp community to deliver the latest news straight to your phone. Breaking news, opinion and top stories are being sent directly to our community and we want you to be part of it. Get the latest news as it breaks from across Lancashire. Users who want to join must have WhatsApp downloaded to their phone. All you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Community' and you're in. No one will be able to see your personal information in the community and you will only receive messages from the LancsLive news team. We will not spam your WhatsApp feed with constant messages, but you will receive updates from us daily with the latest stories from across the county. If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave at any time by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking 'Exit Group', simple as that. Join our new Whatsapp community! Click this link to receive daily LancsLive breaking news and top stories. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Subscribe to our daily newsletter LANCS LIVE NEWS and get all the biggest stories from across Lancashire direct to your inbo
LABOUR CONSERVATIVES BUSINESS TAXES PUBS BLACKBURN WITH DARWEN Lancashire UK POLITICS
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